Blank-feeding mechanism



Jan 23, 1923.. 1,442,923.

. J. E. CRANDALL.

' BLANK FEEDING MECHANISIVL,

FILED MAR.13}L922- 2 SHEEIS-SHEE] Jan, 23, 1923. 11,442,923. 3. E. CRANDALL.

BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM.

FILED MAR. 13, 1922. 1 SHEETS-SHEEI 2.

Patented den. 23, lhfid.

lmll llfll ltlll a JAY E. CRANDALL OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'lO GAW-OHARA ENVELOPE CO, OF CH ICAGQILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BLANK-I 'EIflDING MECHANISM.

Application filed llliarch 13, 1922. Serial No. lid-3,199.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JAY E. C ANDALL,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful. In'iprovements in BlankF-eeding Mechanism, ofwhich the following is a specification. u

This invention relates in general to blank feeding mechanism, and while capable of many uses it is illustrated in the present application as appliedto an envelope making machine of the L'type wherein the blanks during their travel in one direction are creasechpasted, and folded and are then transferred. in a direction at right angles to their original direction of travel into another portion of the machine Where they are further operated upon to produce .the completed envelopes.

Mechanism of several different types have heretofore been employed for effecting the transfer of the blanks from one portion of the machine to another portion extending at right angles thereto, and one particular mechanism for this purpose with which I am familiar comprises reciprocatory means for effecting the transferring movements of the envelopes. Such reciprocity devices however canonly be operated at a limited speed and even then the vibration of the machine and the rapidity with which the operating parts wear makes their use quite objectionable. i a v a One of the primary purposes ofmy present invention is to provide mechanism for effecting this transferring movement of the envelopes with extreme rapidity and seem racy without causing objectionable vibration. to of the machine or' involvin appreciable wear on the moving;- parts. i y :1

Another object of invention to provide transferring mechanism which can be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate the same to blanks of various SlZGS,SO that by a simple adjustment the"transferring mechanism can be accommodated to any size of blanks that the machine is capable of handling. i i Otherobjects and advantages of this invention should be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understoodby *reference to the following description, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

and J have shown merely for ill Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of an envelope machine equipped with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view taken sul'stantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional View on a reduced section taken substantially on the line 25---3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail reference character 5 indicates a pair of belts by which the envelopes one of which is shown in dotted lines in Fig". 1 and indi cated by reference character 6, are fed from the preliminary creasing, pasting and foldingz mechanism to transferring position from which they are transferred by my improved mechanism to the secondary part of the machine where the subsequentoperations are performed thereon. The mechanisms for performing the various operations upon the envelopes may be of any well known or pre ferred constructions and hence are not illustrated heli'eiin the driving and driven rolls 7 and 8 respectively of the secondary portion of the machine being adapted to receive the envelopes as they are transferred and to feed them onto the chains or belts by which they are carried on through the machine;

VVhen the envelopes are brought to transfel'ringposition by the belts 5 their "forward ends are caused to abut against the stop bar a 9 by which they ,arealigned since the continuously operating belts tend to urge the forward ends of the envelopes against this bar. Any suitable mechanism may be employed to hold the envelopes down against the belts, strative purposes two lingers l1 overlying; the belts and beneath which the envelopes fed, these fingers being: mounted upon rock shaft 12. The belts F3 are trained over a roller 13 and are capable of adjustment longitudinally thereof so as to properly support envelopes of; various 'widthswhich the 511th rhino is adapted to handle.

Upon one of the frame members '14: of the machine, I have mounted a standard 15 the base of which. is provided with slots 16. adapted to accommodate clamping bolts 17 by means of which the standard is adjustably secured to the frame member. I? or the purpose of providing for a greater range of adjustment than could be secured within the length of the slots 16 the frame member 14: is

provided with a series of holes 18 adapted to receive the bolts 17 when agreater ad just-merit than is provided for by the slots 16 is desired.

The upper end of the standard is provided with an elongated bearing 19 in which is rotatably journaled a shaft 21 carrying at its outer end a sprocket wheel 22 and held against longitudinal displacement by this wheel and a collar 23 fixed to the shaft by a set screw 24 at the inner end of the hearing 19.

Upon this shaft above and at one side of the belts 5, is mounted a plurality of, in the present instance two, transferring members 24 which are adjustable longitudinally of the shaft and are held in adjusted position by set screws 25. Each of these transferring members comprises two oppositely projecting arms 26 longitudinally cored at their ends to receive the transferring fingers 27 which are preferably shaped substantially as shown in Fig. 2 and are inserted into the ends of the arms 26 to the shoulders 28 and locked in position by set. screws 29. The shaft 19 with the tranferring members is revolved in a clockwise direction, viewing Fig. 2, by means of a sprocket chain 31 trained over the sprocket wheel. 22 and idler 32, and a driving sprocket 83.

Without disturbing the driving relation of the sprocket chain 31, the standard 15 carrying the shaft 21 may be adjusted on the frame to the right or left viewingFig. 2 so as to dispose the transferring fingers in the proper relation to an envelope resting upon the belts 5. Envelopes wider than the envelope 6 illustrated would require adjustment of the standard to the right, viewing Fig. 2, while narrower envelopes would necessitate an adjustment of the standard to the left in order to dispose the transferring fingers in proper transferring relation to the envelopes.

During the operation of the machine the envelopes are fed successively into transferring position by the belts 5, whereupon their right hand edges viewing Fig. 2, are engaged by the rotating transferring fingers and the envelopes are thereby shoved transversely of the belts in position to be picked up and fed along by the feed rolls 7 and 8. The envelopes are therefore transferred rap idly and accurately from the belts to the feed rolls by a simple rotary transferring mechanism which employs no reciprooatory parts, nor any parts which are inclined to become noisy or wear out rapidly. The operation out interfering with the driving mechanism so as to accommodate the device to envelopes of various dimensions.

It is believed that my invention and many of its advantages will be understood and appreciated without further description. and it should be apparent that the details of construction of the invention are capable of considerable modification without departing from the essence of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1', In a blank feeding mechanism, the combination with means for feeding blanks in succession to transferring position, of rotating fingers journaled above said feeding means and adapted to engage an edge of a blankand move said blank transversely with a respect to said feeding means.

2. In a blank feeding mechanism. the combination of means for feeding blanks in succession to transferring position, and :1V transferrer for transferring said blanks in succession transversely from said feeding means. said transferrer comprising a plurality of fingers rotatable about an axis above the blank to be transferred and adapted to engage an edge of said blank and move the same transversely of said feeding means.

3. In a blank feeding mechanism, the combination of a blank feeding belt. a shaft journaled above said belt, a transferring member comprising an arm and a finger removably attached thereto carried by said shaft and adapted upon rotation of said shaft to move an envelope transversely of said belt, and means for driving said shaft.

4. In a blank feeding mechanism, the combination of a blank feeding belt, a rotatable shaft, a plurality of transferring members mounted thereon, means for driving said shaft, and means whereby said shaft may be adjusted with relation to the belt without disturbing said driving means.

5. In a blank feeding mechanism the combination of a feeding belt, a rotatablc shaft mounted above and parallel with said belt, a plurality of transferring members mounted on said shaft and each including a removably mounted finger adapted to engage an edge of a blank supported by said belt and move the same transversely of the belt, means for driving said shaft, and means for adjusting the shaft transversely of the belt.

6. In a blank feeding mechanism. the (OHI- bination of ablank feeding belt. a rotatable shaft, a plurality of arms mounted thereon, a transferring finger removably carried by each arm, a standard upon which said shaft is journaled, means for adjustably supporting said standard, and driving means connected with said shaft, said driving means being adapted to permit adjusting movement of said standard without disturbing the driving relation.

JAY E. GRANDALL. 

